It used to aggravate me, but then I realized that for every one person that I was envious of, due to their success, there was perhaps ten who were envious of me. I say that not to sound egotistical, but to show that envy does go both ways, and that success can be measured by different people in different ways.

I have to say, that I have never been impressed by successful people who want to show off. It degrades their success, certainly in my eyes. I have however always had huge respect for people who handle their success with aplomb, humility and quietness. It is far more dignified to get on with life in the absence of braggadocio.

I met a business man many, many years ago in Glasgow, whose company was somehow involved in the production of cinema seats, of all things. Their largest customer area was Las Vegas..!! He was a genuinely nice man and I while I only met him once, I liked him right away. I later found out that he did a tremendous amount of behind-the-scenes charity work. He never attended charity events, he was never interviewed, he never advertised his charity work – he let others do all of that. He just simply supplied the money. He donated plenty.

I never met him again. I never heard of him again. I can’t even remember his name. I do recall that he did drive an old Rolls Royce mind you – “my one and only wee luxury” he said (he let me sit in it, which I had never done before). I learned much from that man – even though my meeting with him lasted no more than maybe fifteen minutes (and the subsequent information from others who knew him). Sometimes in life, little events linger for a long time after.

Needless to say, I never have been impressed by successful people who love to boast about how clever they are. Many, many times, you’ll find that they were in the right place at the right time, and have no more skills, or smarts than you or I.